


Sanguine

by jinzou_enemy



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Pre-Slash, Red String of Fate, kanata is in it but not important enough to tag as one of the characters, smacks lips. for now.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-28 06:25:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19806559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jinzou_enemy/pseuds/jinzou_enemy
Summary: He doesn’t look for where his feet take him after practice, too mentally exhausted to even think about something like that. Looking up, he finds the door to what seems like an empty club room, or storage room? Regardless, he doesn’t hear any noise, and so he opens the door.It’s a good thing that the door swings open silently, because Madara only notices the red line connecting them once he has full view of the person inside.





	Sanguine

They say that when you need it most, a red string will appear on your pinky for you to follow. It’s always with you, but only becomes visible after you need it.  
  
It was something Madara had never doubted, so he wasn’t surprised when it happened. He was even _less_ surprised that it had involved the Shinkais, just maybe not in the way he had thought they would.

The Shinkai family heirs were known for being able to see everyone’s strings but their own. When Madara had asked Kanata how it looked, the boy had responded hesitantly. 

“The world… sometimes, it looks like a ‘sea’ of red.” The brunette was still young at the time, but he’d seen enough of what the Shinkais did for the statement to send a chill through him. Kanata may have not meant it the way Madara had taken it, but both images that came to mind were unsettling, to say the least. 

Though he believed in Kanata’s humanity above all this ‘God’ talk, there was a single time in his childhood where he had fallen for the temptation of asking the boy for something. 

Rain had been thundering down, and Madara hadn’t been allowed to go home from the compound that night. A small text from his mother had reached him in the late evening, telling him that his sister had gotten sick once again. 

After reading it, he had pouted and turned to Kanata. “It’s not faaair, Kanata-san! The meanies in your family aren’t letting me go home, even when my sister has gotten sick! They’ve never stopped me from running back all those other times, so they must be keeping me in because of the weather. But it’s not even _that_ bad. I could probably walk home just fine, if they let me,” Madara ignored the howls from the wind that rattled the windows, rain splattering across the glass.

“Then again, I really like hanging out with you, Kanata-san! If my sister never got sick again, I wouldn’t have to leave early so often! Though, something like her not even having her illness in the first place...I wish it could come true, but finding a soulmate seems more likely than that!” He finishes it off with a wry smile, a fragile thing that sits awkwardly on such a young child’s face. 

In response, something that could only be called a smile had grown on Kanata’s face, wider than Madara had ever seen from the boy. 

“If you want me to, I could grant that ‘wish’ for you?” Kanata had seemed so joyous at the prospect, something that threw Madara for a loop. Of all the things he had shown and talked to Kanata about, _this_ was what caught his attention?

His immediate thought was to say no. The refusal gets caught in his throat, though, and he can’t seem to get it out. The metaphorical hand that’s been extended sits there, innocuous in its appearance.  
  
When he had reached to take hold, its claws had sunk into his vulnerable heart; and Madara had nodded, too choked up to say anything else.  
  
The morning after he had tentatively asked such a thing of Kanata, he had immediately gone to check on his little sister. 

Madara recalled how excited he had been when he had hurriedly rushed upstairs, not even saying a greeting to his parents, in favour of eagerly opening the door to his sister’s room.

He had ripped the covers off her bed, only to find her lying there as sickly as ever. 

Though his smile had dimmed, it didn’t vanish completely. His wish was probably just going to take time! Madara remembers seeing some of the people who came by, and how the wishes they asked to be granted had only been fulfilled after a period of time. 

He had to be patient, Madara reminded himself. ‘Kanata wouldn’t let me down like that, not after all the other wishes he’s granted.’

A couple days passed.  
  
Then weeks.  
  
Time rolled on, becoming months, then an entire year, and Madara had to accept that his sister wasn’t getting any healthier. 

It was probably around that time when he had noticed the red string hanging from his pinky.

* * *

Present time, he finds himself fiddling with it a bit as he walks into his new school, Kanata trailing behind him. It’s not like he _wanted_ to ignore the other boy, but Madara was too caught up on his string to notice.

This was probably the tautest he had seen it, he notes absentmindedly. At this point, it was only barely touching the ground. Was his soulmate somewhere in this school? Probably. Did he care? Not much. 

The day was uneventful, the only noteworthy thing having been watching the bright red string rise and fall, echoes and whispers of emotions that weren’t his running over him. It wasn’t something that had happened before, but Madara supposes they had never been close enough to feel it. If he focused hard enough, it was mostly a similar boredom to his own, which explains why it was a bit hard to pick out. 

Time passes, and before long, the day had already hit its end. Despite the fluctuations of his string, Madara hadn’t caught hide nor tail of his soulmate. Preferring to encounter them naturally, he hadn’t bothered to seek them out. His soulmate most likely agreed, seeing as no one had approached him all day. 

The days continue on, and he had yet to catch even a glimpse of his soulmate. More often than not, Madara’s string actually seemed more limp than it did on his orientation day. 

On those days, the melancholy that seems to thrum through to him is a bit duller, tempered by something more positive. If skipping school improved his soulmate’s mood, he was no one to judge. 

He’d also gotten himself roped into something quite strange. Well, _strange_ might not be the best word to use. Considering this was a school for making idols, Madara had expected to eventually join a unit, just not this soon. 

RYUSEITAI wasn’t what he had expected. Filled mostly with filth similar to people he had seen clinging to the bottom rungs of the Shinkais, it was no wonder the unit had been a mess, despite still being early in the year. He doesn’t let that phase him, though. A unit based around heroes, huh? Even if he couldn’t become one outside the realm of this idol fantasy, it could still mean something.  
  
Climbing up the ranks was easy considering the competition. Before long, he found himself close to the top, but there was no warmth here. Top of the first squad, second to only their leader. Vice captain. A false title, a false persona that wasn’t any different from his usual.

Towards the end of another day of practice, a fight broke out. Madara had only left for a couple moments, but it seems that had been enough time for discourse to erupt. He didn’t quite understand why they were arguing. He picked out a reason from the snippets of argument he overheard, but they didn’t make any sense to him. Madara simply barges in, not bothering to wait for the ‘right moment’ to step in.  
  
“O~iii, there’s only ten minutes left of practice! Let’s get back to work and make the most of it, ‘kay?”  
  
He smiles at them, revelling in the way some of the weaker minded ones flinch, before catching himself. If they flinched, it must mean that he didn’t look genuine enough. Madara frowns a bit. Or was it just how he held himself? He was supposed to be approachable, not...  
  
Madara pinches his leg sharply. Enough of that.  
  
Although they get back to work almost immediately, whispers of conversation nipped at Madara’s back.  
  
_“That first year, thinking he’s hot shit.”_  
_  
“The only reason he’s even at the top of our squad is because he’s freakishly good at picking things up. We work so hard, and for what? This brat to show us up?”_

_“I still don’t understand why the captain decided to appoint this first year as the Vice.”_

Madara scoffs. As if it was his fault they lacked talent. His head throbbed. It was a blessing in disguise that practice would be over in a couple of minutes. 

He doesn’t look for where his feet take him after practice, too mentally exhausted to even think about something like that. Looking up, he finds the door to what seems like an empty club room, or storage room? Regardless, he doesn’t hear any noise, and so he opens the door. 

It’s a good thing that the door swings open silently, because Madara only notices the red line connecting them once he has full view of the person inside.  
  
He’s on his phone, distracted. His also has his feet kicked up on the table in front of him, his chair balanced precariously. 

Maybe it’s the sheer shock that’s still thrumming through him finally making its way through their bond, but the blonde flinches and turns around. 

Eyes locking for only a second, Madara has to clench his muscles to stop himself from dashing away immediately. Considering this is their first interaction, he wouldn’t want his soulmate to get the wrong impression. Confrontation wasn’t something he ran from, regardless of his mental energy at the current moment.  
  
Looking at him properly, something like recognition fills his mind. When he tries to focus on it though, the sensation escapes, so Madara pays it no mind. 

He waves, a grin wide on his face. His soulmate continues to stare at him in shock, mouth slightly ajar. 

“Soulmate-saaan, you okay? Earth to Soulmate-san~,”

That seems to snap the blonde out of whatever trance he was in, because his chair loses balance as he shifts, and he tumbles to the floor.  
  
Oh. 

He sits there groaning, rubbing his back from where it collided with the floor. 

Skipping forward, Madara stops just inches away and offers a hand for his soulmate to help himself up with. It happens to be the one with their string connected to it, and Madara tries to tell himself it wasn’t intentional. He watches in amusement as the blonde looks at his hand in genuine contemplation, reluctance clear on his face. 

To his surprise, his soulmate resigns himself to grabbing his hand and uses it to pull himself up.

As soon as their hands connect, Madara has to stop his expression from twisting at the emotions that threaten to drown him. It’s a varied mix, but the one that stands out the most is disgust. Judging by the way his soulmate suddenly looks guilty, Madara assumes that his disappointment reached him.  
  
The blonde snatches his hand away, wiping it not-so-subtly on his pants. He stands there awkwardly, as if waiting for Madara to say something about what just occurred. When he doesn’t, he clears his throat a bit. 

“Ahaha, so you’re my soulmate then? I guess asking for a cute girl was too much…Is it too late to ask for a refund~?”

“That’s not very nice! I’m your soulmate, whether you like it or not. _To each their own,_ but if fate paired us together, then that’s that!” His soulmate grimaces again, and Madara ignores the second pang of nausea that trails through their bond, though it’s more muted than before. 

Winking at the blonde, he re-grasps their hands. “Enough about that! We’re saying all these things, but I haven’t even heard your name yet-- I’m Madara Mikejima, though you're welcome to call me Mama~” 

“‘Mama’? No thanks, Mikejima-kun. I wouldn't say we’re anywhere near close enough yet to warrant such nicknames,”  
  
There’s something else tucked away behind the surface response to his nickname, but Madara isn’t able to decipher exactly _what_ before Kaoru wrenches their hands apart once more.  
  
“That said, I’ll at least introduce myself if we’re going to be-” He rolls his eyes, “- _connected,_ for the rest of our lives. My name is Kaoru Hakaze. A pleasure to meet you, I guess.”

His expression is still the same as it was before, and Madara can tell that this introduction was the closest thing he was going to get to an apology at this point.

Plopping himself down into one of the chairs, Madara pats the one next to him.

“So, how about we get to know each other? If you don’t have anywhere else to be, that is!”  
  
Kaoru shudders, shaking his head as his face pales. “Yeah, no thanks. Even if you _are_ my soulmate, I’d rather not spend more time with you than needed. Besides, I’ve already spent enough time in this room, so it’s all yours~” The blonde doesn’t even let Madara get a word in before he scutters out of the room.  
  
Though he had come to this room to relax… Madara finds that he has even more problems than he had started out with. 

* * *

Being sent away just before that RYUSEITAI live was unfortunate, but more so was the news that had reached him once he had returned. It was like the wedge that had been shoved between Kanata and himself had just widened, the gaping chasm growing even larger after the blow that had been dealt to their unit.  
  
He briefly thinks of going to Kaoru for something akin to comfort, but shook the thought from his head immediately. He hadn’t had many more full conversations with the blonde besides their first one, so it’s not like they were close besides the whole soulmate thing. The boy hadn’t exactly been receptive to him before, and he doubted that it had changed in his absence. 

Just wandering aimlessly on campus, he spots a flicker of blonde across the courtyard and in one of the many windows of the school building. 

A quick glance down at his hand then the ground confirms his suspicions. His attention caught, he moves on instinct. Though he doubts that Kaoru wants to see him, Madara can’t help but want to chase.

It’s a weird sensation, to be so eager to see someone he’s hardly talked to again. Madara would disregard it as something to do with this whole soulmate thing, but that wouldn’t be wholly correct. 

He _wants_ to know more about Kaoru. The blonde is an enigma to him, a puzzle he wants to solve and know every nook and cranny of. He can’t say that it’s necessarily from a romantic view as of currently, but Madara had always just taken life as it came. It was always more fun to not know what was coming next. 

The thought of seeing Kaoru again is what spurs him on, sprinting across the school to enter the building. It scared him a bit, how excited he felt to see someone who was most likely going to just brush him off again, but it wasn’t a sensation that he was unused to.

Madara doesn’t pay any mind to the strange stares he gets. He hadn’t ever been bothered by things like self-consciousness or consequences, and he wasn’t going to start now. 

He slows to a stop as he reaches the door he’d seen the boy enter, and peers inside.

Compared to when he had first seen it, the interior of the room had drastically changed. It’s now filled with numerous tanks, mostly containing a variety of fish and jellyfish. ‘s not as dimly lit as before, he notes. The lights from the fish tanks illuminated the room, bathing it in an almost otherworldly aura. 

Right in the centre of it all, Kaoru sits, absentmindedly watching the sea-life float by. Blonde hair was highlighted by the blue hues being emitted from the tanks, and the sight was strangely familiar, as if he’d seen it before.  
  
He tries to dig through his memories, and recalls something that must’ve happened ages ago by now. 

_If Madara was remembering correctly, it was the time he had taken Kanata to the aquarium. A couple years before his...request; it had been one of the better days, when the rest of the clansmen were feeling lenient. It helped that the aquarium was one owned by the Shinkais, too._

_Madara had been dragging Kanata through the halls, trying to get to the exhibit with the penguins, when he had felt it. Just a small tug on his pinky. Madara had looked down, slowing his pace a bit to find what had done it._  
  
_He had been holding onto Kanata with his opposite hand, so it couldn’t have been him. There wasn’t anyone else in the hallway either, so he wasn’t sure where the sensation had come from. Well, that wasn’t quite right. Looking further back to where they had already passed, Madara had seen a blonde boy around their age, with someone he assumed was his mother._

_The boy was also looking around before looking down at his pinky, a pout on his face. His mother seemed to catch his attention again though, and the blonde’s focus was back on the exhibit in front of him._  
  
_Thinking nothing of it, Madara only stared a bit longer before continuing on his way._  
  
_It’s still vivid in his mind; the look that Kanata had given him after their encounter. A brief flicker down to his hand, then back up._

_“You…”_

_Madara watched as the boy opened his mouth before closing it again, expression still the same as ever._

_“It is ‘okay’. Don’t mind me, Mikejima,”_

_At the time, he hadn’t really known nor cared for Kanata’s pause. It was just another one of the young boy’s quirks._

_In hindsight, Madara probably should’ve known what was going on. He’s just surprised that he hadn’t realised what was happening in that single encounter. Then again, he had just been a child, with his focus solely on Kanata. He hadn’t had time for people other than the boy._

No wonder the blonde had initially seemed familiar. So it was him? How strange fate is, to bring them together again after all these years. 

Tapping on the doorframe to get Kaoru’s attention, the blonde perks up before freezing. His eyes proceed to narrow, and he gets up from where he was sitting to drag Madara into the room, closing the door behind him. 

The mood is surprisingly tense, so Madara decides to break it.  
  
“Ahh, how secretive! Could this be because you’ve missed me, Kaoru-san? Are we going to lose ourselves in the throes of pleas-” Kaoru slaps a hand over Madara’s mouth. He eventually removes it, and gives him an unamused stare at the cheshire's smile the brunette wears.  
  
“You’re way too gross, Mikejima-kun. Keep it down, would you? I was just--” Kaoru fiddles a bit with the string that hangs from his right hand, eyes cast to the side, “--okay, I was _maybe_ a bit curious about where you had gone off to.” He looks up, panic clear in his eyes, the feeling so strong that Madara can feel as it thrums through their connection, “Not because of anything like _that_ , y’know? It was just so sudden, and you’ve been disappearing here and there; the string constantly moving like that is pretty distracting,” 

The brunette raises an eyebrow. “Just the fact that you noticed my numerous absences makes me more than happy, Kaoru-san. I’ll make sure to stay around foreeever, then! That way we could hang out way more ♪” 

Blowing a bit of hair out of his face, Madara taps his foot; the only sign that he’s mildly annoyed. “Well, that’s what I’d _want_ to say. Truth is, Mama doesn’t have too much control over when or where I go overseas next~” 

Kaoru’s expression, which had previously had been harsh, softens, if only slightly. “Huh. Really now? I always thought you were just the kind that lived for adventure. I wish I could get away with skipping school that often…Both you and Sakuma-san sure do have a mysterious aura~”

“You’re a student, Kaoru-san! You should treasure your learning time, regardless of how interesting the classes are!” Madara ignores how Kaoru rolls his eyes at that. Maybe the blonde didn’t like their classes or something, but Madara would much rather _that_ over the sorts of things he has to deal with when not on his home turf. 

“That being said, I really _haven’t_ been around to hang with you!” He sees Kaoru go to interrupt him, so he continues, “As friends, Kaoru-san! Even if we are indeed soulmates, I’d want to get to know you better before getting into any territory like that.” 

Even after clarifying, Kaoru still looks reluctant to do anything of the sort. Good thing that Madara doesn’t particularly care. “So it’s settled; I’ll send you a text anytime I’m in the local area, and we can hang then. Since I doubt you want to be seen with me during school time, or anything of the sort?”  
  
He takes Kaoru’s silence as a resounding agreement. While he quite frankly knew next to nothing about him; the fact that Madara often found him either on the rooftop or in this room was more than enough for an answer.

“Thought so! Outside of school it is. That probably fits both our schedules and preferences better, anyway~” Madara waltzes over to Kaoru’s side, plopping his phone into the blonde’s palm. It takes him a bit of wrangling, but Madara manages to get Kaoru to put his number into his phone. 

Grabbing it back with a chuckle, Madara gives the blonde a pat on the back, laughing a bit louder when Kaoru yelps. “I’ll see you later then, Kaoru-saaaan!”  
  
Humming to himself as he leaves Kaoru to his own business, Madara finds his mood better than it had been initially. Maybe he’ll get a snack on his way back home or something. A mini celebration to himself, from himself, for making what almost seems like a _friend._

* * *

Keeping true to his promise, Madara always makes sure to text Kaoru when he’s back in the country. The blonde always sends multiple complaints in response, and more often than not comes late, but…

He always comes regardless.

They frequent the live house that Kaoru has to take care of fairly often; it’s an easy place for both of them to just relax, and ‘it doesn’t feel too much like a date when we’re at the place I essentially work at’, according to his soulmate. 

Once Madara finds out that Kaoru has an interest in playing Pool, he chucks that onto his mental list of things they can do while Madara is still in the local area. 

The only problem with _that_ is that both their hands are consistently occupied for the next couple hours, meaning that Madara doesn’t have a chance to rest his against Kaoru’s. 

That’s another thing that happened. It starts to become a habit of Madara’s; interlocking their hands that have the string connecting them. The first few times Kaoru tries to protest, he eventually gives up when he realises that Madara isn’t going to be stopping anytime soon. 

The gesture is mainly more of a comfort for Madara than anything. It’s refreshing, not having to deal with worrying if someone is being insincere during those times. Granted, he can still feel tinges of emotion from Kaoru when they’re not holding hands, they’re just extremely muted in comparison. 

Their friendship a slow process. Madara is fairly sure that Kaoru is just using him for free food 90% of the time, and even the other 10% of the time is a bit of an unknown patch. He catches the blonde genuinely having fun sometimes, and the more they hang out, the longer their conversations last. 

One time, Kaoru brings up Kanata. 

Madara’s thought process comes to a halt. They know each other? He knew that Kanata was in the Marine Bio Club, but… 

He continues to smile and nod, not noticing the way that Kaoru’s brow slowly furrows, hand sneaking across the table they’re currently sitting at. 

Madara blinks at the nudge against his hand that's followed by a surge of concern. By the time he looks down though, there isn’t anything there. He has a sneaking suspicion of what it was, but he doesn’t mention it.

By the time they’re starting their third year, Madara would say that they’re friends. Whether Kaoru would agree or not is a _completely_ different matter, but they’re not strangers anymore. It helps that the trips overseas have gradually slowed, now that Madara has had to put his focus on Kanata aside.  
  
Sometimes, Madara remembers that Kaoru and himself are supposed to be soulmates. It’s an easy thing to forget, when yours treats you in such a non-romantic way. Every so often, he thinks that it would be easier off if they didn’t end up in such a relationship, but then he remembers some of the smaller things. 

The way Kaoru starts rambling if you start him on any subjects related to the ocean. How his eyes light up when you give him pretty much any sweet, especially pancakes. His weird obsession with ducks, and how happy he looked when Madara had suggested they go to the park to feed them grapes. 

Madara wouldn’t say he’s in love with Kaoru, but he could definitely learn to fall. 

**Author's Note:**

> OH MY GOSH!!! I AM SO HAPPY THAT I MANAGED TO FINISH THIS IN THE NICK OF TIME! this is my entry for round one of the ESO! i chose the prompt 'discovery' for my fic, and im pretty damn satisfied with how it turned out! thank you SO much for my fellow team members for supporting me.....y'all are the BEST 
> 
> i honestly might write another chapter detailing how their dynamic changes as opposed to canon in their third year, so watch out for that!!! hehe. 
> 
> ONCE AGAIN! IF YOU'VE REACHED THIS POINT IN THE FIC, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING THIS ALL THE WAY THROUGH TO THE END


End file.
